Foundation

Heinrich Schulte establishes the enterprise as a lock manufacturing business. Already long before 1840, the official year of foundation, ancestors of the Schulte family were self-employed master locksmiths.

Devolution from father to son

The son Carl Eduard Schulte gives the company the name it still bears today - C.Ed.Schulte or CES in short.

View of the smithy

In 1874, Carl Eduard Schulte moves into a house on the upper part of Friedrichstraße. In the adjoining smithies, he installs the first mechanically powered presses.

Carl Eduard Schulte and family

The beginnings in Friedrichstraße

The first steam engine in Velbert

The rising production volume requires another extension of the operation. CES installs the first steam engine in Velbert, which marks the beginning of the industrial lock production.

First cylinder lock manufacturer in Germany

CES pioneers the production of cylinders and locking systems in Germany.

CES at the Leipzig Trade Fair

From an early date, the company exhibits its products on trade fairs.

The first master key system

CES delivers the first master key system to the Unversity of Cologne. The grand master key locks 867 cylinders (article from "Kölnische Zeitung" dated 5 April 1934).

The company in the course of time

The company in the course of time

Modernization of the façade and addition of new building units

CES at the Cologne Trade Fair

Exhibiting on the International Hardware Fair Cologne becomes a tradition that is continued into the next millenium.

Acquisition of the lock factory of Niederhoff+Sieper

View of the design department

The times of the drawing board have long passed. The oldest hand-drawn design dates back to 1937.

Inauguration of the new administrative building

Production of the first electronic locking system CES-alpha

CARL-EDUARD-SCHULTE foundation

On the occasion of its 150th anniversary, CES establishes the CARL-EDUARD-SCHULTE foundation. Since then, 67 award winners have been honoured and received about 125,000 euros in prize money.

ISO 9001 certification
Launch of the CEMO motor cylinder

Introduction of the reversible key system WM
Grant of trademark protection for the key sections WM and KM
Key ceremony at the Reichstag

Launch of TERA, the first vertical reversible key
Introduction of the security cylinders

Market launch of the electronic security system CES-OMEGA
Key ceremony at the Federal Chancellor's Office

Start of the cylinder manufacturing by CESrom SRL in Sibiu, Romania

Spinning-off of the electronics division into CEStronics GmbH
Renaming of the lock factory Niederhoff + Sieper to CESlocks GmbH
Start of the marketing of OMEGA LEGIC
Key ceremony at the Dresdner Frauenkirche

Founding member of Schlüsselregion e.V.

The association Schlüsselregion e. V. is the industrial network of the Velbert / Heiligenhaus region. About 75 member companies and institutions are committed to promoting the network of regional competencies, mutual contacts and cooperations, as well as the collaboration in the fields of research and professional education and training.

Launch of the new OMEGA LEGIC fitting IES
Establishment of CESfrance SRL in Paris, France
Large crowd at the open day on the CES premises

CES Gruppe establishes two new subsidiaries

CESnederland B.V. Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
CESitalia srl., Italy

Launch of the new key design for horizontal reversible key systems
Delivery of locks and cylinders for Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world
The first students under the cooperative engineer training scheme (KIA) start at CES Gruppe.

Presentation of OMEGA Mifare

At the Security trade fair in Essen, CES presents the new OMEGA Mifare components.

Introduction of the DU key system with 3D profiling

Innovative key section series with undercut for upscale industrial buildings